Good news, bad news: Cavaliers beat Magic to snap losing skid but Evan Mobley suffers sprained ankle

CLEVELAND — On one hand, Cleveland broke a three-game losing streak. On the other, it was dealt another potentially devastating blow to its starting lineup. Darius Garland scored 25 points, added 12 assists and came up with clutch shots down the stretch while Lauri Markkanen shook off a knee-to-knee collision to drop 20 points — including 10 in the fourth quarter — to lead the Cavs to a 107-101 win over the Orlando Magic on Mondaynight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. "We got our confidence back with this win," Garland said. "I think the defense set the tone for our offense." The win came at a potentially steep cost, however, as star rookie Evan Mobley hobbled back to the locker room in the second quarter and was later diagnosed with a left ankle sprain. He finished with four points and two rebounds. "Mentally, I think it struck us a little bit seeing our rookie of the year go down like that," Garland said. "We try to tell each other to just stay with it, stay together and we just try to get easy buckets and stops to get back on the same page." Mobley entered Monday averaging 15 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks and is a strong contender to be named NBA Rrookie of the Year, if not the front-runner. He's taken his game to another level since starting center Jarrett Allen went down with a sprained left middle finger, averaging 17.5 points and 9.9 rebounds in an 11-game span that included four 20-point outings and a career-high 30-point effort in an overtime win against the Clippers on March 14. Now the team will wait and hope for some good news on their star rookie. Cleveland hosts Dallas on Wednesday. Injuries have not been kind to the Cavs, who have been without Collin Sexton since November, lost backup point guard Ricky Rubio in December and his replacement — Rajon Rondo — is still out with a right ankle sprain. Prior to Monday's game, the Cavs ruled out forward Dean Wade for the rest of the season after he underwent successful surgery at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health to treat ongoing issues with the meniscus in his right knee. Wade had missed the previous seven games and was a key member of the rotation. "They have continued to stick and fight for one another," Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "The injuries can be emotionally staggering at times, but they found a way to keep it together. I thought Kevin (Love) was great for us in stabilizing us and together they figured it out." The injuries likely won't damage the Cavs playoff chances as they are virtually assured a top 10 finish at 42-33, but it could damper their odds in beating out Chicago and Toronto in a race to avoid being squeezed into the play-in tournament involving the bottom four playoff teams. The Cavs entered Monday as the odd team out. Cleveland will remain in seventh with the Raptors beating the Celtics, but are now one game behind both teams with the Bulls losing to the Knicks. Orlando (20-56), which entered Monday in a three-way tie with Detroit and Houston for the NBA's worst record, was just what Cleveland needed to break a three-game losing streak, including losses to Toronto and Chicago in its last two outings. The Cavs rattled off 17 straight points to open the second quarter, only to watch the Magic battle back before halftime and keep things tight until the final five minutes. With the injuries, Cleveland went deep into its bench and got a solid effort out of Dylan Windler, who finished with nine rebounds. Moses Brown played for more than half of the third quarter while Markkanen was sidelined, scoring four points and grabbing two rebounds. The Cavs also got a boost from Love with 19 points and seven rebounds. "We needed every one of his nine rebounds," Love said of Windler. "He got some big ones when it mattered and he knocked down free throws. He earned the chain tonight and he's someone who is going to have to be big for us in these last several games. You have to win ugly and right now every win counts as far as the standings go." Markkanen returned in the fourth to help Cleveland hold off Orlando. He came up with a clutch three at the 4:37 mark that gave Cleveland a 93-92 lead and sparked 12 unanswered points to slam the door, including a three from Garland that blew open the roof. Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter. Cavaliers 107, Magic 101 ORLANDO (101): Carter Jr. 7-14 1-6 15, F.Wagner 4-8 2-2 10, Bamba 4-6 0-0 11, Anthony 4-8 2-2 11, Hampton 2-2 0-0 6, Brazdeikis 6-10 1-2 13, Okeke 3-11 0-0 7, Schofield 4-8 0-0 10, M.Wagner 1-5 0-0 2, Dowtin 2-4 0-0 5, Fultz 5-11 1-1 11. Totals 42-87 7-13 101. CLEVELAND (107): LeVert 4-15 0-0 8, Markkanen 6-15 5-5 20, Mobley 3-3 0-2 6, Garland 7-17 6-6 25, Okoro 4-6 3-3 11, Love 7-15 1-1 19, Stevens 2-4 2-2 6, Windler 1-4 3-4 5, Brown 2-2 0-0 4, Goodwin 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 37-83 20-23 107. Orlando&emsp;&emsp; 22&emsp;&emsp;31&emsp;&emsp;27&emsp;&emsp;21&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;101Cleveland&emsp;&emsp;27&emsp;&emsp;33&emsp;&emsp;21&emsp;&emsp;26&emsp;&emsp;—&emsp;&emsp;1073-Point Goals—Orlando 10-37 (Bamba 3-4, Hampton 2-2, Schofield 2-6, Dowtin 1-2, Anthony 1-4, Okeke 1-6, Fultz 0-1, F.Wagner 0-2, Brazdeikis 0-3, M.Wagner 0-3, Carter Jr. 0-4), Cleveland 13-41 (Garland 5-10, Love 4-12, Markkanen 3-9, Goodwin 1-2, Stevens 0-2, Windler 0-2, LeVert 0-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Orlando 45 (Carter Jr. 12), Cleveland 41 (Windler 9). Assists—Orlando 31 (Carter Jr., F.Wagner 6), Cleveland 26 (Garland 12). Total Fouls—Orlando 24, Cleveland 13. A—19,432 (19,432)